Andrew Robertson and Darwin Nunez will return to the Liverpool starting lineup against Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday.
Liverpool will host Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday night, looking to continue their impressive run of form with another victory at home. The Reds have picked up five wins and a draw from their last six outings in all competitions. Arne Slot’s men will be full of confidence heading into this game and they will be the favourites to grind out a positive result.
The home side will be without Alisson Becker (hamstring), Federico Chiesa (match fitness), Harvey Elliott (foot), and Diogo Jota (knock) for this game. Alisson is still recovering from his hamstring injury and he is expected to return later this month. Meanwhile, Jota is sidelined with an abdominal problem. Chiesa and Elliott are still in the process of regaining full fitness.
Meanwhile, Slot has confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Jota should be back in action after the international break. The Liverpool manager said, “We expect him back after the international break… the first weeks after the international break we expect him back. I always say in Holland there is privacy about this and I don’t know how it is over here. Like I just said, he will be back one or two weeks after the international break.”
Caoimhin Kelleher will start in goal for now as the Reds shape up in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Aston Villa. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson will start as the full-backs. They will look to help out defensively and create goalscoring opportunities going forward as well. Kostas Tsimikas is likely to be given a breather after starting in midweek. Ibrahima Konate will start with Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the defence.
As for the midfield unit, Ryan Gravenberch will start alongside Alexis Mac Allister in the double pivot. They will look to add defensive cover, control, and composure to the side. Dominik Szoboszlai will start as the attacking midfielder against Aston Villa, and he will look to add creativity and drive to the midfield.
Mohamed Salah and Luiz Diaz will start on either side of Szoboszlai, on the flanks. They will look to open up the Aston Villa defence with their pace, flair and link-up play. Finally, Darwin Nunez will lead the line for Liverpool after starting on the bench against Bayer Leverkusen, with Curtis Jones dropping to the bench.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz; Nunez
